Plan B
by Kazuma Aoshi
Summary: Well, there's always plan B." Naruto frowned, "And what's plan B?" "Oh...just a little place called Inaba."


I didn't feel nearly as accomplished as I thought I would at this point. In fact, I felt like shit.

"Naruto..." I heard the stern tone in her voice but ignored it. I still had some self loathing to do.

I, Uzumaki Naruto, managed to screw up on my last chance, my last strike. At first I wasn't even aware the council was keeping tabs on everything I did which was stupid considering who I am. Being the living container for a nearly indestructible demon wasn't all that safe, so it should have been a given that I would be being watched like a hawk.

So they had decided I would be given a certain amount of chances and each time I screwed up, they'd take one away. I suppose you could say they were only so willing to take responsibility for so many things.

My first mistake, well, I hadn't even know it was going to be that big a deal. After all, as a 12 year old boy with not minutes, but seconds, on his hands I had to think of something. And thinking clearly wasn't exactly my forte.

The Boss Toad told me he needed fangs and claws. Okay, if I had the time I could have thought of a lot of things. A bear, a wolf, hell even a kitten would have been fine. But I was running on low and who had I recently met at the time? That's right, the fuzzball AKA the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

So I pull of an A-rank Henge jutsu to morph Gamabunta into the Kyuubi and shortly after I had Gaara beaten. This was a feat Lee, with his gates couldn't do. This was a feat Sasuke and his almighty Sharingan couldn't do. The Henge itself should have gotten someone to notice I wasn't as horrible a ninja as everyone thought. But who gets promoted? Shikamaru. The guy was too lazy to even finish his fight!

But I digress.

As I was saying, that was strike one. The second came not much later with my fight against the Bastard himself.

Channeling the Kyuubi's power to the point I had acquired strength equal to one of it's tails? Yeah, that was felt from _miles._

The red chakra, as a lucky bonus, comes with it's own evil taint! Yay!

Add that to the evil power coming of Sasuke's cursed seal and that's a whole bunch of dead puppies if you catch my drift. So the concil took that as strike two. One more to go, right?

A couple of years passed as I wasted time with Jiraiya. I say wasted because I literally learned not a damn thing from training with that pervert. Let's see, he had me practice the basics for one year until I could henge things on que. Useful and would have been better had it not taken a year. The next year consisted of learning how to make variations of the rasengan. "Look, I can make it bigger!"

I'll admit, the Rasenshurkien is pretty attack grinds you down on a molecular level, literally destroying your cells. Try getting up from one to the face.

What else did I learn from the almighty Sannin Jiraiya?

Jack squat.

Encountering Sasuke later, I had imagined he'd be no better. After all, we spent the same amount of time training and I know for a fact I am more enthusiastic about training than him. After all, which one of us was the one to learn a Jounin rank jutsu in half an hour as a adolescent gennin?

Well, not that it matters. How bout some statistics for the Uchiha?

For starters he now is about jounin ranked in sword fighting, or Kenjutsu.

He has around five different versions of Chidori, with which he no longer has to even get close to you.

His speed puts Gai with gates to same.

He also has an uber jutsu that Orochimaru won't even let him use.

To say I lost or first rematch was an understatement.

Of course when I saw my pervert of a teacher again I brought all this up and he offered training. funning this is, his idea was to help summon the Kyuubi's power. Note that this was all before I knew of the "Three strike rule".

So I gained the ability to use the fox's chakra and I can now control myself up to 6 tails now. The bastard had never shown so much emotion before. He was shocked, I tell you, shocked as he watched me demolish the snake and his little medic in a matter of minutes.

Sasuke got pissed off and charged me, a show of recklessness that is usually reserved for me. He when down in half the time as the other two.

I didn't kill him of course. I mean, after all this time I no longer considered him a friend and would have gladly ended it but I still had that promise. So I beat him until he couldn't even blink without medical attention and brought him home. He's still in a coma.

Sakura was surprisingly calm about the whole ordeal. When I dragged the limp body through the gates, the village went crazy. Bad crazy, not the good kind. She had come to see what it was all about, saw me covered head to toe in blood and dragging Sasuke by his hair, and didn't do anything. I mean, I was expecting her to blow up, scream about me hurting him, revert to her inner fan girl and try to clobber me.

Instead she lightly scolded me, who was shell shocked at this, and helped me carry the unconscious Uchiha to the hospital.

She later told me she had grown out of her "Fan girl phase" and merely wanted Sasuke back because she thought I wanted that. She also told me she was giving Lee a chance and was going to dinner with him later.

You have no idea how surprised I was.

Thinks were finally looking up!

So...why am I currently sitting in the Hokage's tower, staring down Tsunade?

...Oh, right.

Three strikes.

Gotcha.

That last stunt with going six tails and wiping out Orochimaru's whole ninja force? (Did I forget to mention that part?)

The council had had enough.

So here I am...

"Naruto..."

In this surprisingly uncomfortable chair...

"Naruto..."

About to be...

"Naruto, listen to me!"

I frowned, "But banishment!? Are you kidding!?"

I had the ninja side of the council with me, with the exception of Danzo who is actually still considered a shinobi. The Fire Daimyo and his advisers weren't with the Uzumaki crew however.

They were nice enough to give me a few choices in the matter. Choice number One: Be executed.

Boy, I don't know, maybe I- Next!

Choice Number Two: Be banished from Konoha forever.

"My life sucks."

Tsunade sighed, "Now Naruto, don't say that."

"But it does!" I argued and with good reason.

"Listen, I actually have a plan concerning this." The blond women smirked proudly. Oh, I have got to here this.

"Okay, what's the plan."

"Easy. We fight for your right to stay in the village with all our might-"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!" I leaped from my seat.

"Even if the odds are incredibly stacked against us and there's a 99.95 percent chance we'll lose!" Her voice wavered a little at the end. It seems Baa-chan was capable of a few Naruto moments herself.

I dropped back into the uncomfortable chair. "Did...did you even think that thought through at all?"

She chuckled nervously, which was all the answer I needed.

"Well," She frowned, "There's always plan B."

Plan B? So all hope wasn't yet lost, I might just win this! Take that you stuffy old bastards and shove it where the sun don't shine! I'm gonna take Konoha by storm baby, let the sun shine in because Uzumaki Naruto demands it! And no, screw you Danzo. Screw _you_.

But wait... I doubt my luck is looking up. Chances are this will suck sometime in the future.

"Okay...what's plan B?"

---

_**Plan B**_

_Welcome to Inaba_

---

Tsunade felt a little guilt for leading Naruto on about his situation but she hoped he'd forgive her later. After fighting so hard to keep the teen in Konoha where all his friend were, she was left with very few options. To tell the truth she had only mentioned 'fighting against the council' to show Naruto just how pointless it would be.

All that was left were the options of banishment and execution.

First of all, they both knew she'd knew let him die for something like this. Second, being banished was just as dangerous as the first choice considering the Akatsuki were still out for him.

That's how Tsunade had come up with 'Plan B'. When the problem first presented itself she went searching for any safe place to hide Naruto until everything blew over. It was a fall-back option in case they couldn't keep him in Konoha.

The Hokage found no place within the Elemental Countries where he would be safe. But maybe outside the countries?

This led her to search far and wide until she stumbled upon some documents concerning her relatives. At first she was elated to find she had living relatives, that she still had a family. Even if they were distant cousins.

Then it came to her. Who better to trust Naruto with that her own blood?

Getting in contact with her distant relatives was a tad difficult but once she did, things instantly hit off. Apparently they were just as eager of family as she seeing as they were alone as well.

After getting up-to-date with their situation and slyly sneaking a suggestion in the conversation, Tsunade had a nice, safe, calm place Naruto could stay. At least until this whole council thing blew over.

Her cousins were more than happy to watch over her 'son' while she and her husband were on a year long business trip. She even sent them a picture so they would know what he looked like.

But now, with Naruto looking so down about Konoha and his friends...well, dropping this on him might be a bit difficult.

"Well, " He looked up at her voice, "There's always plan B."

A plethora of emotions played over the gennin's face. Shock, hope, happiness, suspicion, and finally caution.

"Okay...what's plan B?"

Tsunade forced herself to look nonchalont. "Oh, nothing...just a little place called Inaba."

Naruto raises a single eyebrow, "And just where might this "Inaba" place be? I don't know of any place by that name."

The Hokage shrugged and knew he had reason for suspicion. After all, during his travels with Jiraiya he's practically been everywhere in the Elemental Countries. Good thing Inaba wasn't in the countries.

"I doubt you would have. After all, you've never been outside the Elemental Countries."

"Outside?"

"Yes, outside."

Naruto blinked owlishly, "Wait...there's an _outside_? Since when?"

"Since always Naruto. Didn't you ever pay attention in the Academy?" Tsunade supressed the urge to smack the boy when he just chuckled at her question. She knew the boy was careless, but to not even know the limit's of you're own world? "Fine, I will just tell you now."

"Oh great, another lecture..." he mumbled.

Tsunade glared but moved on. "As you know, or should know, there are the Elemental Countries. I won't bother going over those with you. But outside of those countries are even more countires. These are mostly run by people with no affiliation to ninja at all, so I guess you could say they are a group of All-Civilian Countries." She paused for a moment to make sure Naruto was getting all of this. He noticed her looking and nodded so that she could continue. "Due to this, they have long ago chosen to 'forget' the Shinobi Countries, writting us off as mere myths and legends. We did our fair share of forgetting as well, cutting off all contact with them until a couple of years ago. Most still believe we aren't real, but we are able to come and go as we please, hiding within their civilization to keep tabs."

"So...how am I supposed to stay there?" Naruto crossed his arms. He still wasn't seeing how he was going to live in a place that thought he didn't exist.

"I'm getting to that, " Tsunade growled, "Now, when we go there...we mostly scout and see if they are any closer to discovering that we are, in fact, real. Since they aren't ready for such a thing, we encourage the 'truth' of the legends. Which leads us to you're situation. I have found that, within these countries, I have some living relatives. It was difficult but I have managed to contact them and they have agreed to take care of you for a year and-"

"What!? A year!?"

"Would you just listen for once!?" Naruto shrunk in his seat seeing Tsunade was running out of patience.

"B-But...that's a long time..." He complained.

"You have been away from the village for longer, right? A year won't be that bad." Tsunade reasoned, dropping into the seat behind her desk.

"Well...I guess. Why a year anyway?" Naruto watched his fellow blond pull a sake bottle from one of the desk drawers.

"I am confident...that I will be able to wear down the council by then."

Naruto sighed, wondering how he was going to tell his friends. "Fine...I guess it couldn't be that bad...and I could train while there."

"Naruto, remember, we don't want anyone to know about us just yet. Make sure you keep anything ninja related a secret, " Tsunade downed the entire bottle in one gulp, "Think of it as an S-ranked mission."

The gennin nodded and stood, "When do I leave."

Tsunade hesitated, "Tomorrow."

---

Naruto stared nervously out his seat window, still not very trusting of this 'train'. Like Tsunade had said, he was on a boat to cross the sea the very next day after he'd said good bye to all of his friends. He knew he'd miss them, but a year wouldn't be too long, right?

After leaving the boat he boarded a hunk of metal called a 'Train'. He at first wondered if it had anything to do with ninja techniques but that thought was shot down once he was inside. Naruto was a nervous wreck.

He didn't feel at all safe sitting in this thing, hoping beyond hope it wouldn't crash into something. He flinched as they entered yet another dark tunnel.

"I don't know how these people do this..." He mumbled, glancing around at all of the other passengers.

Not one of them seemed scared like he was.

_'Next stop...Inaba. Next stop...'_

Naruto looked up at the voice, not even bothering to worry about it. When he was on the boat, he was given a crash course on how everything worked. He knew what was 'normal' for the people of 'Japan', and what was 'weird'. Anything in the weird category was off-limits unless he could do them without anyone seeing him.

The train began to slow down, an act that insisted on requiring a loud screeching noise. Either way, he was glad to be off that flying metal death trap.

_'Welcome to Inaba.' _The voice said as he left. 'Thanks, I feel _so_ much better.'

The blond hefted his suitcases easily and exited the Train Station and looked around. Tsunade told him he was to play the role of her son which didn't seem that hard to him. If he had any idea of what it was like to have a mother, he'd say Tsunade already acted like his Mom anyway. She also told him that he should make a good impression on her family. That and she burned all of his clothing that had any hint of orange.

He had cried most of the boat ride.

Naruto was now dressed in a simple short sleeved button shirt open over a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He had to admit, orange or no, he looked pretty good.

"Hey, over here!" Naruto just barely remembered that he was supposed to meet the "Dojima's" outside of the station.

The older man gave him a quick glance, making sure he matched the picture he had received. He knew it was him, though, even without that orange jumpsuit. "Hey there, I'm your mother's cousin, Dojima Ryotaro." He and Naruto shook hands. "And this here is Nanako." He ushered the young girl behind him forward. "Say "Hello" to your cousin, Nanako."

She looked up at Naruto, "...Hello." Blushing she hid behind her father again. Naruto actually found it sort of familiar... not to mention adorable.

"Oh, what's the matter? Are you nervous?" Ryotaro teased. He only laughed when Nanako slapped his back in retaliation.

"Heh, Nice to meet you." Naruto grinned.

"Same here, " Dojima paused and rubbed his chin, " I never knew we had blonds in the family..."

"E-er...well..."

"And you're a lot more handsome than in your photo." Dojima laughed heartily at Naruto's nervousness. He knew the blond would have girls fawning after him in no time, after all, he was part of the family. He remembered when he was in high school.

Dojima led them to his car, another contraption Naruto felt he'd need time to get used to. At least the seats were comfortable and the ride smoother. They stop at a nearby gas station where they were immediately attended to by a worker.

"Fill it up, please." Dojima said.

Nanako fidgeted, "I gotta go to the bathroom..."

The worker, a silver haired boy pointed, "It's to the left. Do you know which side is your left?" He chuckled, "The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

"I know." Nanako frowned and ran off.

"So, you going somewhere?" The boy said.

Dojima shook his head, "No, we just went to pick this guy up. He just came down from the city and will be living here for now."

'City? I see Baa-chan covered something like that as well.' Naruto leaned against the car, listening to the conversation while he surveyed the town. It was small and quite, most defiantly a boring place. He had no idea what Tsunade was thinking sending him here... but at least she had his safety at heart.

"From the city, huh?" The boy sounded interested.

Dojima nodded, "Well, you can filler it up then?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good... I need a smoke." Dojima sighed and wandered away.

"Are you a high school student?" The boy turned his attention to Naruto.

"Yeah." That was another fact Naruto was going to hate. Civilian school.

"I was surprised to hear you're from the city. I find this place sorta boring myself," The boy looked around, "Since you're in high school you better get some friends and a part-time job." He advised.

Naruto shrugged, "Maybe, though i'm not that good at making friends."

The boy merely smiled, "I don't think you'll have to much trouble. Anyhow, the only think left to do is to welcome you to town."

He held out his hand and Naruto suddenly had a bad feeling. Something about this boy seemed off... but he needed to play along. He smiled and took the boy's own hand.

"Welcome to Inaba. We're always hiring part-time here, even students."

Naruto nodded, "Maybe. I'll look you up if I need a job." With that, the boy got to work filling up the gas tank.

Almost immediately after Naruto felt his vision blur. His head felt as if it were splitting open. 'Whoa... what's going on? A headache?'

"Are you okay?" Nanako stared up at him with a worried look on her face.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." Naruto assured her, smiling through the pain. He barely noticed that boy was now nowhere to be found.

Dojima appeared shortly after, ready to head home. "Alright, let's go."

They all hopped into the car and drove toward the Dojima family residence. Naruto relaxed as best he could in the backseat, wondering how his first day could start off with a headache. He knew this was all going to suck sometime in the future, but hoped everything would be fine. Here in the small country town of Inaba, he was going to live like a civilian.

That was just going to be _murder_.

* * *

This is one of the things I have been working on since my problem with **After Dark**. I was surprised to see people wanting me to continue the story, in fact, most reviews said something on the style in which I write. I had no idea I even had a style! Anyway, I will continue **After Dark**, but please don't expect any updates right now. First I have to finish the second chapter (What I posted was just a preview) and I am still working on other fics.

Since I want AD to be a big story, I will work hardest on it.

Concerning this story, **Plan B**. This is obviously a crossover with P4, one of my favorite games. Naruto is banished because Konoha sees him as a danger to the village because of his use of Kyuubi's evil chakra. NOT because of the state of Sasuke when he was brought back. After all, he doesn't really need to be conscious for them to make more Uchiha, right? Sakura has long since given up on him (Note: She was mad at Naruto for the state Sasuke was in, but here, let's say she's taking Anger Management and is making progress).

I tried my best to explain how Naruto got to Inaba. This is merely the first chapter, so no action yet, and probably won't be any for a while. Chapters will be short, maybe 2 - 3k words.

Please enjoy and tell me what you think. Oh, and idea's on Naruto's persona. I don't want Izanagi to be the first.

Oh, and I already have a pairing, but you may suggest a girl if you want to change my mind.


End file.
